I bought the TideWe Rain Suit with my own money because I saw a big opportunity to have an inexpensive breathable rain jacket that I was not afraid to beat up. I already had a $300 Gore-Tex rain jacket, and it works great, but I find myself hesitating to use it unless I am hunting in a situation where I can baby it. If I had a nice cheap rain jacket, I would wear it more and not lose sleep over hunting hard and pushing through heavy brush with it on.
But a cheap rain jacket still has to be waterproof, if it doesn’t keep you dry, it’s no good no matter what it costs. So, I put the TideWe to the test against my very expensive rain jacket in a controlled experiment to see which one keeps you drier. I wanted to generate some data to see if the TideWe lives up to what it claims. To summarize my findings, the TideWe Rain Suit, particularly the rain jacket, is an outstanding piece of rain gear for the money that every hunter should have in their bag or their trunk at all times.
TideWe provided me with an 18% off discount code for my audience when I reviewed their see-through hunting blind a few seasons ago, so of course I used the code when I bought the rain suit to save 18%. That 18% off code is GK18, you can enter it at checkout to save 18% also. That discount is in addition to most sales TideWe does, so I was able to get the TideWe Rain Suit for $45, which means the rain jacket costed about $23. Which is amazing, and you will see why shortly.
Rain Jacket vs. Rain Pants
Just so we are clear, I did buy and have used the full rain suit, but this article is mostly about the jacket. The pants perform just as well as the jacket, are the same material, same fit, etc. They are very nice. I just do not use the pants as much because when I’m out hunting in the rain, it’s usually for waterfowl and I have waders on. So, I am talking mostly about the TideWe rain jacket going forward, but you can apply much of this to the pants as well.
And as a note, the rainsuit also comes in black and works good for everything from campaign and hiking to sitting at a sporting event in the rain. I think I may keep this in my car year-round, so I always have a rain layer handy.
Features
- First and foremost, the rain jacket is very light weight and very packable. You can easily roll it up and put it in your backpack or even a big pocket. It is exactly what I want in a piece of gear like this because I can wear it into the field, or I can have it in my pack just in case it rains or rains more than is expected.
- It also works good as a wind break in case you are climbing a hill to scout and find some roaring winds up there; you can toss this on to keep you warm while you are up on the mountain.
- Despite being so light weight, it is fairly durable. I don’t feel like I’m going to break or tear it. It has nice resilience. I am sure I could break or tear it, as I’ve found ways to destroy all kinds of gear when hunting very hard in heavy cover. But for normal use, this feels good. I am pleased with its durability.
- I typically wear a large in just about everything, base layers, jackets, mid layers, etc. So, I ordered this raincoat in a large as well. It fits perfectly and has lots of room underneath to fit whatever I want from just a hoodie up to a parka. So, this can be used in all weather conditions from the summer to the winter, you just dress like normal and then put this on to keep water or wind off of you.
- It has a nice adjustable hood, and an adjustable waist cord so you can tighten it down however you like. It has overlapping elastic cuffs for the wrists so you can easily combine it with some waterproof gloves and keep everything dry or just pull your hands up into the sleeves to keep them out of the rain.
- There are pockets on the outsides, and when looking at the pros and cons, these are probably the weakest area for the jacket. The pockets have a fold over design, so there is no zipper. In my experience so far, hunting with this in the field, the pockets have stayed dry, but I wouldn’t trust them with my cell phone in a heavy downpour. But a handful of ammunition would probably be fine.
- And lastly, as far as rain jackets go, it’s on the quieter side. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a quiet or stealthy piece of gear at all. But it does seem quieter than my $300 Gore-Tex rain jacket. All rain jackets are loud, but the TideWe is not as loud as some others. But keep in mind, rain is loud, so if you are wearing this in the rain, the noise of the rain negates any extra sound created by your jacket. So in general, it works fine.
The Experiment
Ok, so the test method I chose was very simple, but also very fun and effective. I got four rolls of toilet paper, the very expensive kind. I then weighed each roll to see how heavy it was dry, and each one weighed in at an identical 3.9 ounces. I then wrapped each roll of toilet paper in one of the jackets, all the exact same way. This included the TideWe Rain Jacket, the $300 Gore-Tex jacket, and a cheap windbreaker jacket that is not waterproof at all to act as the control. I wrapped them so there was one layer of material along the top and all the folds, sleeves, and other material were underneath.
I then set all the jackets outside on a rainy-day using metal wire mesh chairs to prevent any standing or pooling water under the jackets. I also set out one roll of toilet paper with no jacket at all just to see what would happen. I waited four hours, during which it rained lightly, medium, and heavily at times. During breaks in the rain, I may have squired each jacket with a hose just to make sure they were getting maximum moisture levels. I also checked to confirm there was pooling water on top of the jackets, so it had every opportunity to soak through if the jackets were not waterproof.
After four hours I carefully unwrapped each jacket and took the toilet paper inside to weigh it and see how much moisture each one had absorbed. Like I said, it was low tech, but very effective.
Results
The results were a bit surprising; you can see the detailed numbers in the chart below.
The TideWe actually was drier than even the Gore-Tex jacket. Now to be fair, both the TideWe and the Gore-Tex were completely dry on the inside. They each performed flawlessly. The only way the Gore-Tex roll could have absorbed any moisture was through humidity or perhaps there was some water on my hands. The difference was only a tenth of an ounce. Why did the control jacket absorb more water than the roll of toilet paper that had no covering of any kind? You will have to watch my video of the test to find out.
Conclusion & Recommendations
So is the $23 TideWe Rain Jacket better than a $300 Gore-Tex rain jacket? No. The Gore-Text has nicer zippered pockets. But the TideWe Rain Jacket will keep you just as dry as the Gore-Tex for less than one-tenth of the cost. And that is what I wanted!
I am very happy to see how well this inexpensive jacket performed. It is exactly what I was hoping for, a 100% waterproof jacket at a great price that I can easily replace if I beat it up too much. I could not recommend this TideWe Rainsuit highly enough. And you can even use the 18% off discount code: GK18 at checkout to save 18% as well.
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Till next time. God bless you, and go get em in the woods!
George Konetes Ph.D. – Founder and Host of the New Hunters Guide.
The New Hunters Guide is simply what George wishes he would have had when learning how to hunt; a single place to get practical hands on knowledge about different kinds of hunting, gear, strategy, and tips that can improve your comfort and fun factor in the woods.